New Zealand v. England. Tests

[Donny]

Second Test.

Nov. 29 - Dec. 3. Seddon Park. Hamilton.

[Pies4shaw]

NZ 3/173 at Stumps on a rain-interrupted (and ultimately ended) day 1. Latham is 101* and Nicholls is 5*, Ross Taylor made 53, Raval made 5 and Williamson made 4. Broad and Woakes (2) have the wickets. Since the NZ batting starts at the fall of the next wicket, the over-night score is a little ominous for England.

[K]

NZ 375 all out.

These Tests do not count towards the WTC.

[Pies4shaw]

That’s because NZ is not a Test nation.

[K]

Well, they are ranked 2 right now, so there's probably only one "Test nation" at best then.

[Pies4shaw]

England are 2/28.

[Jezza]

2/39 at stumps.

[K]

England 5/269.

Burns 101 run out
Root 114 not out.

Root no doubt can attest how much easier it is batting at 4 than at 3.

Not noticed by me before: Pope is wicketkeeper, after Buttler was injured before the Test.

"Pope has kept wicket in just five of his 33 first-class matches, including twice for the England Lions, with the presence of Foakes at Surrey denying him that opportunity. Instead, he has forged a reputation as the most promising young batsman in the country, and that is where his Test future is likely to be."

(Evening Standard)

The article, a couple of days old now, goes on:

"That would leave England with an inexperienced batting line-up, with only captain Joe Root and vice-captain Ben Stokes having played more than 13 Tests among the top seven."


(And I see this too:
"the new coach Chris Silverwood is flying home early due to a family bereavement".)

[K]

"Let's be clear: had Root been dismissed for a pair in this match, he would still have led England in South Africa. If there were a viable alternative that might not be the case, but there isn't. Not really. And he retains the confidence of his team.

But there had been a creeping suspicion that the cost of retaining Root as captain was compromising his ability to perform his day job: scoring runs.
...

And England, a team who have not scored 400 this year (and did so only once in 2018), cannot afford their best batsman to endure such a fallow spell. They are going to end a year without a Test series victory for the first time this century, after all (the last time they did so was in 1999).
...

But most of all they needed it to give Root some breathing space. This hundred, albeit one made on a docile surface, will quieten - at least for a while - the voices calling for change and, probably more importantly, quieten the doubts within Root's own head. ... Clearly in some discomfort at times - he received treatment on his long-standing back injury at various intervals - it was, in its way, a brave and determined innings, too. Root is, once again, a captain leading from the front."

(cricinfo)

[K]

At stumps, day 4:
England 476
NZ 2/96, still trailing by 5 runs.

Root 226 (441), 22 4s, one 6.


Surely not enough time for a result, right?

[Pies4shaw]

Great effort by Root. Given the tiny boundaries at NZ grounds, that’s just about as good as a 50 at the MCG.

[K]

The way the MCG pitch has played in recent Tests, it's worth about 450 on the MCG, but might take three days.

[Pies4shaw]

Denly has just dropped the softest dolly of all time to mid-on off Williamson. It was so hopeless that Archer (who was bowling) was in fits of hysterical laughter. Footage from point shows Stokes at square leg displaying appalled disbelief.

2/155.

[Donny]

2/241.

Both Williamson and Taylor scored unbeaten centuries before rain stopped play.

[K]

Miller, cricinfo:

"... England haven't won a single Test match in New Zealand since 2008, let alone an entire series...
...

Forget his absurd dalliance with the wicketkeeping gloves (honestly, of all the cupboards that England should find bare, when did that one get emptied?), Pope's display of doughtiness in the second innings at Hamilton was the single biggest discovery of the series. Admittedly, it came on the flattest deck in humanity, so it would be advisable to curb the enthusiasm just a touch."


[I can guess the answer to Miller's question. Along with the death of Test batting has come the death of wicketkeeping. The two are probably related. The need to bolster pathetic batting with a wicketkeeper who can bat means that there are no pure wicketkeepers left, just batsmen pretending to be wicketkeepers.

The wicketkeeping allround in the ODI WC was nothing short of disgraceful. Sarfaraz was one of the better keepers and look what happened to him post-WC! In Test ranks, Paine is good with the gloves, though there were some disappointing moments in England.]